Pulp For Beginners

Thanks for checking out Pulp For Beginners!

This is part of a series of stories written in the style of the old pulp books and radio dramas from the 30-60s. Hopefully we can capture the spirit of that, but we definitely don’t want to go hammy with it. In other words, no need to “Give ‘em what for, mac.” or “I don’t like the cut of your mustard, see.” If you are familiar with the genre, they were fast paced adventures, heavy hitting dramas, supernatural horrors, and some really fun mysteries. Sometimes you even got all that with some good writing to boot! (Sometimes . . .)

Think Adam Savage, Indiana Jones, Dick Tracey, The Shadow, and Sargon The Sorcerer all mashed up into one and you are on the right track for what the “Pulp” Volumes can be.

Regarding my narration style:

I approach each story with a pretty rough outline of big events that will happen throughout the story as well as the big picture, but I leave the spaces in between pretty loose for you guys to be creative. In most cases, there are some great writers who insert some stuff that makes me have to change my plan and adapt. The story always benefits greatly from this sort of interplay.

I tend to mix some heavily controlled scenes with some looser scenes throughout each story. For some sections, you may feel as if you are riding on rails and very limited in your choices. Typically this occurs when I am leading to a reveal or major event. All I can say is bear with me, as it does loosen up again. If you have any questions about how that works, feel free to read my other narrations, Fantasy For Beginners Vol. I or Vol. II. You should see examples of this throughout.

At times I can put real pressure on a scene with harsh/fatal consequences. Although this sounds brutal, I try to keep a balance between fun and game-like peril in the story. I feel that this has challenged some characters and made for some really great writing out of our groups, which has been awesome.

Regarding the genre - this is pretty wide open, really, so feel free to have some fun with your character creation. Gangsters, mystics, magicians, detectives, cops, crooks, soldiers, socialites, thieves, martial artists, crimefighters and adventurers are all welcome. Keep the technology between 20s-40s if possible, but we can flub it here and there . . . no big deal.

A couple things you WON’T find here are Cthulu mythos and the smutty stuff. Not that there is anything wrong with either, per-say, but they just don’t fit what this series is about. Cthulu mythos is a genre in and of itself so if we went that direction it could quickly overshadow all the other fun places we can go with this. Regarding the smutty stuff? Meh . . . pulp books had their fair share of that, but that is just not my voice as a writer. Feel free to be a bit risqué here and there, as we aren’t prudes, but let’s keep it PG-13. I will ask for revisions long before we have to stamp this sucker NSFW.

Finally, I will say that this is my first pass running a Pulp story this way. As such, and because there are so many places we can go with it, I decided to do something a little different. Rather than toss you all to the wolves without any heads up, as is my wont (Mwah ha ha), I am going to give you a little info as to what to expect BEFORE we start (I know, crazy, right?). Like my other narration, I will run this as a fresh story with a fresh cast per chapter, but this time I will actually let you know what you are getting yourselves into in advance (yeah!). So, here it goes:

Chapter 1: Your character will be getting on a cruise ship sailing from the Azure Coast, better know as the French Riviera. Your destination is an island resort off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt.